6th Annual Florida Family Leader's Network Summit

Jan. 31 - Feb. 2, 2024

Tampa, FL

Alexandra Folleco is an FFLN Summit speaker this year and a sibling to her older sister Daniella, who passed away from complications of osteosarcoma in 2007. In her middle and high school years she volunteered at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, where Daniella was treated, and served as the Youth Advisory Council President for 2 years. Alexandra's interest in patient advocacy continued in her undergraduate and graduate career as she studied public health at George Washington University (GWU). She previously worked in rare disease patient advocacy at the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) and currently works as a Research Associate at GWU's School of Nursing for the PCORI-funded research trial, ExPAND (Expanding and Promoting Alternative Care and Knowledge in Decision-making) which focuses on expanding choice for people with kidney disease.

Danita M. Gainer is a member of the UF Health Shands Human Resource Development team. She serves as a coordinator responsible for coordinating and facilitating classes such as New Employee Orientation and Service Culture, Building Rapport, Communication Basics, and Listening with Empathy. Danita has been with Shands for over 25 years. In her career, she has learned to navigate processes, procedures, team dynamics, and project management. She believes the key to success in many of life’s opportunities is interpersonal communication and begins with a genuine respect and appreciation for all involved. She likes to have fun while getting the job done and is eager to work with the Florida Family Leader Network Summit for the 5th year! She feels it is a privilege to be involved and engaged with the FFLN and the people who are a part of it. Over

the years, Danita has learned so much and looks forward to the next segment of this journey!

Jeffrey P. Brosco, MD, PhD  is a pediatrician and historian who serves as the Director for the Division of Services for Children with Special Health Needs (DSCSHN) in the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) within the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). He also teaches and practices general pediatrics and developmental-behavioral pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, where he contributes to scholarship through UM’s Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy. For two decades, Dr. Brosco held a series of leadership positions in the Florida Department of Health, including Title V CYSHCN Director and Deputy Secretary of Health. Appointed MCHB’s DSCSHN Director in 2022, Dr. Brosco leads an interdisciplinary team tasked with ensuring that every child in the U.S. receives the medical care and family support they need to play, go to school, and grow up to be healthy and productive adults.

Jessica Allen is an Associate Professor of Psychology for Birmingham-Southern College with an interdisciplinary background in research and teaching. Jessica’s work in Gerontology has given her a broad understanding of advanced care planning and decision-making research, hospice and palliative care, adult day and respite programming, caregiving, and bereavement research. She is also experienced in interprofessional education and assessment. More recently, she has extended her work to include research, education, and advocacy around chronic illness and wellbeing for pediatric populations with gastrointestinal disorders and their caregivers.

Since 1986, Dr. Karen Wayman has worked in hospital settings including Children's National Medical Center in Washington DC, California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco and, currently, Stanford Medicine Children’s Health in Palo Alto. In 2002, Dr. Wayman received a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley with the dissertation topic: “Maternal Care of the Hospitalized Child: Determinants of Parental Efficacy-Beliefs. Currently, Dr. Wayman is the Director of Family Centered Care and responsible for embedding family-centered principles and practices enterprise-wide with oversight of Family Advisory Councils; Health Literacy Initiative, Parent Mentor Program; and Parent-to-Parent Patient Safety Rounding.  Most recently Dr. Wayman has taken on a leadership role in the DEI/Health Equity sector of health care – activities include creating a family-centered Social Determinants of Health infrastructure to assess and coordinate services for patients and families as well as creating services to address the needs of hospitalized patients with disabilities.  Finally, Dr. Wayman leads the Parent Mentor Learning Collaborative funded by the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health.  The goal of the Collaborative is to establish Parent Mentors as a new “standardized” role in health care.  

Mark Keith is the Research & Training Specialist for the Resource Materials Technology Center for the Deaf / Hard of Hearing. He provides training, consultation and support services for parents and school districts across Florida on issues surrounding the education of children who are deaf / hard of hearing. He has been providing these services for over 20 years. Mark is also the father of a successful young man who is deaf and has cerebral palsy. Mark is also the author of No Dad, It Does Not Involve a Hippopotamus, a collection stories and articles about raising his son.